And lo On Tue, 06 Jan 2009 11:21:35 -0000, Invisible <voi### [at] devnull> did  
spake thusly:

> Phil Cook v2 wrote:
>
>> -9°C in Brum apparently and I heard talk of -11 somewhere.
>
> Heh, that's pretty mental.
>
> My mum dragged me out of bed early becuase of the "wickedly bad" weather  
> outside. Personally, apart from being very cold, I didn't find much  
> wrong with it...

As with most things if you're careful it's not a problem; I'll agree it's  
cold, but it's certainly not as bad as it has been in my memory. I recall  
snow up to my knees when I was eight and my mum having to instruct the  
taxi (to get to my cousin's birthday party so mid-December) to wait at the  
top of the road because they wouldn't get back up it if they came to  
collect us.

>>> Man, it's *years* since it's been that cold. I mean, it used to be  
>>> like that every winter, but it hasn't done it for about a decade now.
>>  And yet the papers can still dust off the headlines from last year  
>> about Britain being gripped by winter/snow/ice. Apart from the increase  
>> in traffic (brats are back at school) the roads were better than they  
>> were yesterday though.
>
> Yeah, not much problem with traffic. But hey, it sounds more dramatic if  
> you make out that it's a major crisis, eh? (It's quite irritating,  
> actually...)

Well it is when you've been used to sailing through the roads without  
pause and it coincides with everyone driving like the person below.

> Yesterday we found yourselves behind possibly the most nervous driver  
> EVER. Got to a roundabout. Stopped. Wait for the cars to go past. Uh...  
> why are we still stopped? That other car is going left.

Yeah well around here at least that means absolutely nothing, and if  
you're worried about having to come to a sudden halt after an attempt at  
acceleration I'd be cautious too.

Case in point I'm on an untreated road and want to turn right, and I've a  
big square skip in my lane just before the turn. I slow as I approach and  
someone turns out of that road without looking in my direction. I've  
spotted them and slunk to a halt and just about to move on when another  
car comes along towards me on the main road. Now in theory I can overtake  
this skip and turn right before it gets to me, if I mis-time it I can  
snick in behind the skip and wait to turn... provided there isn't  
something parked behind the skip, which I can't see. So I wait, the  
oncoming car slows and flashes me to turn; I gently apply my foot and  
listen to my wheels spin. Good job I didn't try to attempt the turn.

<snip>
> Yes, there's a tiny bit of snow. No, I'm sure your car will still grip  
> the road if you drive sensibly. You don't need to move at walking pace!  
> Tires have tred *for a reason*. Sheesh...

Exactly there's a degree of care you need to take, but on main treated  
roads it shouldn't be to that much of a degree.

>>> Fortunately, I came prepaired. ;-)
>>  Gloves, thick coat, ...bobble hat?
>
> Super-saturated salt solution. ;-) Just in case.

And that'll keep you warm how? ;-)

>> Well in the hour and half I've been in the temperature has finally  
>> reached 13°C in the office and that's with all the heaters on.
>
> Damn! And I thought it was bad that the toilet seats have condensation  
> on them... o_O

It's sitting at 21 now which is just right, typical that I'll be off out  
in half an hour for some lunch.

-- 
Phil Cook

--
I once tried to be apathetic, but I just couldn't be bothered
http://flipc.blogspot.com

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